The Importance of Pollinators

Pollination ecologist Neal Williams, assistant professor of entomology at UC Davis, appears briefly in a segment on native pollinators produced by America's Heartland. The show is now airing throughout the country. (Watch video)

Reporter Sarah Gardner of America’s Heartland touches on the declining population of honey bees--which European colonists brought here in 1622--and native pollinators, which are also declining.

“Farmers, scientists and others in U.S. agriculture are mounting an effort to develop a unique pollinator partnership promoting the growth of native plants on farms, orchards and ranches all across America,” Gardner said.

Williams is quoted as saying: “In the East, native bees can potentially provide all the pollination that’s necessary in the vast majority of those farms.”

Vaughn said that “unless we encourage native pollinators, consumers are going to see fewer food choices and higher prices. The conservationist is urging farmers and growers to add native plants to their growing areas in an effort to attract different bee species, butterflies, hummingbirds and other animals that can help in cross pollinating crops.”

Williams, who joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 2009, was a featured speaker at the International Symposium on Pollinator Conservation, held last January in Fukuoka, Japan. He explored agricultural landscape change and the role of bee life history in predicting and understanding responses of bee communities.

(Editor's Note: America's Heartland is airing the program beginning this week (Jan. 1-6) and it can also be seen on America's Heartland website. To learn when the program airs in your zip code, access this site.)